 Line drawing by M. Szent Ivany J. Adelaide Bot. Gard. 4 (1981) 175, fig. 68. |
 Distribution map generated from Australia's Virtual Herbarium. S. tumulicola is now considered to be confined to NT and Qld records to belong to S. esuriale (Bean 2004, p. 805). |
Synonymy
Solanum tumulicola Symon, Trans. Roy. Soc. S. Austral. 95: 234; fig. 9 (1971)
T: c. 40 km E of Stuart Highway at Daly Waters, N.T., 7 June 1967, D.E. Symon 5085; holo: AD; iso: AD, B, CANB, K, NSW, NT, US.
Qld specimens attributed to S. tumulicola by Symon are now referred to S. esuriale by Bean (Bean 2004, p. 805).
Description
Sprawling, clonal, perennial herb to 30 cm, grey-green, densely pubescent with minute stellate hairs; prickles absent, or up to 2 mm long, scattered on stems and leaves.
Leaves linear-oblong; lamina 4–8 cm long, 4–8 mm wide, sometimes larger, slightly discolorous, entire; petiole 5–10 mm long.
Inflorescence short, 1–6–flowered; peduncle 10–15 mm long; pedicels 1 cm long. Calyx 2–3 mm long; lobes triangular, 1–1.5 mm long. Corolla stellate, 20–25 mm diam., purple. Anthers 3.5–5 mm long.
Berry globular, sometimes acute, 10–15 mm diam., yellow; fruiting peduncle 20–30 mm long. Seeds 2–3 mm long, pale yellow-orange. n=12.
Note that this description from Flora of Australia 29: 137 (1982) would have been drawn up with some specimens now assigned to S. esuriale .
Distribution and ecology
Occurs only in N.T., with specimens from QLD previously assigned to this species in Symon (1981) and Purdie et al. (1982) now treated as S. esuriale (see Bean 2004, p. 805).
Most common in heavy clay associated with seasonally flooded lakes and rivers; rarely in hard gravelly loam or sandy soil.
Relationships
Closely related to S. esuriale Lindley, which Bean (2004) assigned to the S. esuriale group without mention of S. tumulicola; distinguished by the more slender leaves and often more tufted habit.
Notes
Note that Bean (2004, p. 805) considers that all Queensland specimens previously identified as S. tumulicola belong to S. esuriale.
Selected specimens
N.T.: 24 km SE of Elliott, N. Byrnes 1422 (DNA, NT); 21 km SE of Elliott, P.K. Latz 458 (ADW, NT); 48 km E of Eva Downs, R.A. Perry 1885 (CANB).
Plant status, if any
Conservation status as a plant of least concern in the
From the web
Further information about S. tumulicola is limited, including at the present time any entires on the Solanaceae Source site.